There’s good news about Aboriginal languages in the Northwest Territories.
Participants at an Aboriginal language networking workshop were inspired last week by three young people attempting to learn their Aboriginal language.
This week CBC north highlighted a new Cree cooking show and the 17 people in the Dehcho involved in a University of Victoria language revitalization program.
At last week’s workshop we heard about language nests and the improved ability of some very young children to speak their language. We heard about new teaching and learning resources, on-the-land language learning opportunities, Master Apprenticeship programs and attempts to engage young people through Facebook challenges, graphic novels and videos.
We heard about language revitalization efforts among residential school survivors. And, we heard about a new emphasis in NWT schools on effective teaching methods and training to improve Aboriginal language learning results for students.
There’s reason to be optimistic about the renewed revitalization efforts that focus on immersion, “upping the cool factor” and acting on language revitalization lessons from places such as Scandinavia, Hawaii and Greenland.
Last week’s workshop participants have a new tool to encourage community leaders, young parents, grandparents, elders and parents-to-be to do their part. Our video, How Children Learn Language, helps people understand the importance of sharing Aboriginal languages when they can be learned the easiest – from birth to age four. The video shows that babies and toddlers can successfully learn more than one language at once.
There’s reason to be optimistic about the future of NWT Aboriginal languages. What do you think will increase their use? Are you part of the revival?
-- Aggie Brockman
